Ikaika Alama-Francis

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Ikaika Alama-Francis
Detroit Lions — No. 91
Defensive end
Date of birth: December 4, 1984 (1984-12-04) (age 23)
Place of birth: Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Weight: 250 lb (110 kg)
National Football League debut
2007 for the Detroit Lions
Career history
College: Hawaii
NFL Draft: 2007 / Round: 2 / Pick: 58
 Teams:
Career highlights and awards
  • No notable achievements
Stats at NFL.com

Ikaika Alama-Francis (born December 4, 1984) is a defensive end for the Detroit Lions. He was selected 58th overall in the second round from the University of Hawaii in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Alama-Francis was born to former Green Bay Packers back-up quarterback and former high school football coach Joseph "Joe" Francis[1] and Rolenda "Ku'ulei" Alama-Francis. He has three older half brothers from Joe Francis's first wife and two older brothers from Joe's second wife, Kuulei.[citation needed] His much older brother is Jon Francis, who played running back for the Los Angeles Rams.[2] Another child, Leya, joined the family after Ikaika went to college.[3]

school.[4] While playing basketball and volleyball for Kalaheo High School, he made the All State High School basketball and volleyball teams his junior and senior years.

[edit] College years

Even though he was recruited to play basketball for New Mexico and Portland State, he started his career at Hawaii after graduating from high school in 2002 as a walk on to the Warrior basketball team.[5] He played forward mostly at the end of games that were already decided.[6]
Alama-Francis decided to try out for the football team during spring training after his first and only season with Warrior Basketball. The elder Francis was a bit skeptical due to Alama-Francis relatively small size and lack of experience with football physicality as a basketball player. Even though Warrior coach June Jones offered Alama-Francis a scholarship coming out of high school with no high school playing experience, Alama-Francis and his father, Joe Francis, refused the offer because they did not feel that Alama-Francis was ready. The elder Francis told the coach that his son needed to earn the scholarship. [7], [8]
Alama-Francis gained 70 pounds over the years to build his 190 pound frame to 260 pounds. He also worked on building his strength and football defensive end knowledge to become a starter his junior and senior years. At the beginning of Alama-Francis' senior year, he was chosen by Coach Jones to represent the University of Hawaii at media day for the Western Athletic Conference at the start of the 2006-2007 season.[9] In his 26 starts at Hawaii he had a total of 112 tackles (62 solos) with 10 sacks.[10]

[edit] Lions years

During the 2007 mini-camp, Alama-Francis could not participate in team organized activities due to a pectoral muscle tear suffered during the Hula Bowl. [11] Instead he worked with head Coach Rod Marinelli and the defensive coaching staff on developing his skills. Alama-Francis impressed the coaches and team mates with his work ethic and positive demeanor.[12]

For the first 11 games of the 2007 Alama-Francis has been inactive most of the games. However, he did score a lone tackle against the Chicago Bears in September 2007.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Honolulu Star-Bulletin
  2. ^ A Bigger, Stronger Alama-Francis | Curran Events | Midweek.com
  3. ^ Midweek.com - Print Alama-Francis: Bigger, Stronger
  4. ^ starbulletin.com | Sports | /2006/07/23/
  5. ^ University of Hawai'i - Office of Intercollegiate Athletics
  6. ^ starbulletin.com | Sports | /2006/07/23/
  7. ^ Honolulu Star-Bulletin Sports
  8. ^ YouTube - Ikaika Alama-Francis Drafted
  9. ^ starbulletin.com | Sports | /2006/07/23/
  10. ^ NFL Events: Draft Player Profiles
  11. ^ starbulletin.com | Sports | /2007/01/15/
  12. ^ Detroit Lions Site: Alama-Francis Takes an Upbeat Approach to Life, but Knows when it's Time to Work

[edit] External links

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Detroit Lions 2007 NFL Draft selections